More heavy rain tomorrow

A reminder that there is a yellow weather warning for rain in place for tomorrow.

This will affect the whole of the North East from 4am until 9pm.

Fingers crossed that there’s no more significant flooding in the region.

20:11Kathryn Riddell

Newcastle estate flooded

A Newcastle estate was also drenched yesterday - and became flooded for the sixth time in 10 years.

Firefighters helped residents of Nile Close in Lemington lift belongings clear of the floor in a bid to reduce flood damage and Newcastle City Council had water pumps and sandbags on standby.

19:59Kathryn Riddell

News spread of famous puddle

Emma Flint, 21, who studies history and archaeology at Newcastle University, was told about the puddle by a housemate, before her mother texted her about the coverage.

A puddle on Jesmond Road West which has gone viral after being streamed on the internet

She said: “It takes 15 minutes longer not to, so I thought I’d just walk through the puddle.

“I climbed up (on the bank), pulled on the railing, and climbed down.”

As news of the puddle spread, opportunists arrived for their 15 minutes of fame, bringing surfboards and lilos.

19:46Kathryn Riddell

Thousands watch Jesmond puddle

Offices across the country were brought to a standstill as people tuned in to watch.

While cyclists sailed through the muddy water, pedestrians attempted various methods of circumventing the Drummond Puddle.

Some gingerly scaled the muddy bank beside the puddle, risking slipping into the shallow water as they clutched at the railing.

Others attempted to leap the two inch-deep puddle, while hardier travellers waded through.

19:38Kathryn Riddell

Jesmond puddle goes viral

A puddle in Jesmond was at the centre of a social media storm as thousands of viewers watched passers-by attempt to avoid getting their feet wet.

As pedestrians and cyclists attempted to negotiate the 1.5 metre-wide puddle blocking a busy path, 20,000 people watched a live-feed of the action via the streaming app Periscope.

A puddle on Jesmond Road West which has gone viral after being streamed on the internet

By the time the feed was stopped at around 5pm, over 50,000 tweets had been sent about the “Drummond Puddle”, which blocked the end of the pedestrian tunnel under the A167 leading from Jesmond to the city centre.

19:30Kathryn Riddell

Rivers burst their banks

The River Tyne at Ovingham and the River Wear, in Durham city centre, both burst their banks just weeks after Storm Desmond swelled waters across the north, while police had to close roads in North Tyneside after they were submerged by Killingworth Lake.

19:22Kathryn Riddell

Trains replaced after landslide

A Replacement bus service is running on Northern Rail between Newcastle and Carlisle, and between Prudhoe and Hexham due to flooding and a landslide. Buses are unable to call at Brampton and Wetheral as the surrounding roads are flooded.

Journey times will be extended by 20 minutes. Expected to be ongoing until at least tomorrow.

19:10Kathryn Riddell

Newcastle puddle makes waves around the world

In the aftermath of the wet weather, a puddle in Newcastle became an internet sensation.

The so-called Drummond puddle, on Jesmond Road West, engrossed 19,000 people who watched Geordies attempt to cross it - by jumping, wading or edging around it.

The live-stream became so popular, the hashtag #DrummondPuddleWatch became a worldwide trend.

18:58

Not enough help from the government?

In the Autumn Statement, the Chancellor announced that he would be ploughing an extra £2.3bn in flood defences.

But Dr Wheeler feels that not enough is being done.

He said: “Politicians say the right things and I think there is a genuine realisation that this is a problem, but really they’re cutting back on our local authorities’ funding, yet it’s local authorities who are responsible for looking after people in these situation.”

18:50Kathryn Riddell

More wet winters to come

The North East should prepare itself for wetter winters a weather expert has warned.

Last month saw the region battered by Storms Clodagh, Desmond and Frank leading to the wettest December on record in Northumberland with 227mm of rain - more than double the amount for this time of year.

January’s weather has already seen County Durham, Northumberland and Newcastlehomes flooded out and schools and businesses forced to close the door.

Dr Dennis Wheeler, an expert in climatology and former lecturer at the University of Sunderland, has warned that people and infrastructure will be forced to adapt to milder, wetter winters.

18:42Kathryn Riddell

Most roads open

Apart from Berwick Hill Road in Ponteland which is still closed after flooding, all major roads in the North East are open.

Some minor roads in rural areas are closed however, and there is still some standing water that drivers should be aware of.

18:34

Chimney collapses in severe weather

Severe weather conditions caused a chimney stack to collapse as people drank tea in the cafe below.

Fire crews and police were called to The Sky Cafe on Heaton Road, Newcastle, at around lunchtime on Wednesday to find bricks had tumbled onto the street.

Emergency services at the scene of a collapsed chimney stack on Heaton Road, Heaton

Firefighters say it is “lucky” no one was injured as the rain and winds battered the chimney.

The defences in Corbridge are a much simpler design than the ones in Morpeth. They are basically a series of flood banks and walls running around the edge of the river. The difference is that Morpeth has over a thousand properties on the flood plain, while Corbridge has 10s of properties. You can only draw a certain amount of money based on the number of houses.

18:15Kathryn Riddell

Some heavy rain tomorrow

Here’s a look at tomorrow’s forecast.

Cloudy with periods of occasionally heavy rain through the day, but tending to become drier later with a few showers, these turning wintry over Pennines. Brisk winds at times. Maximum temperature 7C.

18:06Kathryn Riddell

Rain brings historic sites to life

The deluges of recent days have brought the past back to life at two of Northumberland’s most historic sites.

At Harbottle Castle, the incessant rain has once again filled the moat.

The aqueduct excavated at Vindolanda - now working again after the recent incessant rain

And at Vindolanda Roman fort, the heavy rain has seen water reactivate a 50-metre long excavated aqueduct.

Sunderland council warning for tomorrow's weather

Sunderland City Council is once again reminding people to remain vigilant following a Met Office Weather warning for more rain overnight.

Councillor Michael Mordey, Portfolio Holder for City Services, said:

We’d again ask people to take extra care when they’re out and about and allow more time for their journeys, especially during tomorrow morning’s rush hour when the rain could be at its peak. We’ve had so much rain over the last few days that the ground is saturated so it’s likely that we’re going to see surface water forming very quickly, with impacts on the transport network. We’d especially ask people to watch out for areas of standing water on roads and pavements and advise motorists to drive carefully and to keep their distance from the car in front. The council has teams working around the clock to monitor the situation and is working with the emergency services to tackle any problems caused by the adverse weather. This is likely to continue into Friday and the weekend which the Met Office is currently predicting will bring further spells of rain and showers.

Jesmond puddle viewed around the world

The live-stream of the puddle on Jesmond Road West was filmed by marketing agency Drummond Central - and quickly started trending worldwide.

Around 19,000 viewers were captivated by Geordies attempting to jump, wade or tiptoe around the stretch of water.

17:29Kathryn Riddell

Council works to stop flooding

A spokesman for Newcastle City Council said this morning:

Here’s a brief update on the rain and what we’re doing to prevent any floods. Council teams worked through the night manning pumps at key points - most especially on the Ouseburn - to stop floodwater reaching people’s homes. We are now working to clear drains and gulleys. River levels have dropped but are still high. Forecasters predict more rain, constantly, throughout the day...but it will not pour down as heavily as it did yesterday. This may change however overnight, so the pump teams will remain in place.

17:21Kathryn Riddell

Following Netherlands' example?

Could we follow the example of the Netherlands?

Over there, some flood defences are built to withstand floods that come every one in 10,000 years. In Britain, the standard is one in 100.

Alan Cadas, Environment Agency Operations Manager for Northumberland, Durham and Tees, said because the country is low-lying the government had taken a decision to rule out flooding entirely.

It’s about keeping the country viable, because otherwise the land would be lost to the sea. In Britain we have smaller areas that are affected by flooding. That’s government policy, here we can only get a certain amount of money and decide how to use that.

17:13Kathryn Riddell

Volunteers saved village street

Flood defences, including the widening of the beck in Lanchester Village, helped save the area from flooding.

Lanchester village after the floods (Photo: Lewis Arnold)

The village’s flood action group put their plans into action on Tuesday and farmers were labelled heroes after they pumped water from the Front Street, saving businesses from flooding.

17:02Kathryn Riddell

Clean up under way in Lanchester

A clean-up operation is under way after heavy rain led to flooding across County Durham but forecasters have warned further rain is on the way.

Schools and businesses closed in Lanchester on Tuesday as one of the wettest winters on record continued.

St Bedes School in Lanchester (Photo: Chris Boundey)

On Wednesday residents began a clean up operation in a bid to undo some of the damage caused by flooding.

Head teacher Neville Harrison said the floors had to be ripped up and dried out in the school.

“It could have been an awful lot worse, it is minimal really the amount of damage done. The water comes in so quickly, but we will be fine, we will show resilience.”

16:52KEY EVENT

More heavy rain tomorrow

There’s no respite from the rain tomorrow - a yellow weather warning is in force between 4am and 9am tomorrow.

Heavy, prolonged rain is expected across the whole of the North East throughout the day.

16:45Kathryn Riddell

What caused the bad weather?

Grahame Madge, a spokesman for the Met Office, said while it was impossible to give a definitive cause for the bad weather, rising global temperatures tend to lead to wetter weather.

He said:

We can’t directly link the terrible flooding that has hit the north of England to climate change, but what we can do is suggest that these events form part of a pattern. When you look at the figures for wettest year on record, 2015 comes out on top, but of the six wettest years we’ve had, five of them have been since 2000. We know that over all the global temperature has increased by 1°c since before the industrial revolution.

16:36Kathryn Riddell

Most roads clear

No flood issues on any key routes this evening, though some surface water is still present in rural areas.

16:25Kathryn Riddell

Australian reporter's view of flooded Newcastle

Our resident Australian Hannah Moore has just moved to Newcastle to work for the Chronicle over the next few months.

Cafe evacuated as chimney becomes unsafe

Damian Boyd, crew manager at Byker Fire Station, said:

We got the call at about 11.50am from the police to say an occupier had said bricks were falling off the roof. When we got there the chimney was in a precarious state. The chimney bricks were loose and some had fallen on to the pavement. A substantial amount of masonry had fallen and it was lucky that no one was walking by and was hurt. However, a car parked on Heaton Road was damaged by a falling brick. People were in The Sky Cafe when we arrived. We cordoned off the area and those who wanted to leave the premises were escorted behind the cordon. An areal ladder platform was requested from our Gosforth station and two crew members climbed up and dismantled the chimney. The incident took about two hours and the police closed the road for safety reasons. The chimney had become unsafe due to the weather conditions, due to persistent rain and winds that had been battering it over previous weeks.

16:09KEY EVENT

Bad weather causes Heaton chimney collapse

Severe weather conditions caused a chimney stack to collapse as people drank tea in the cafe below.

Fire crews and police were called to The Sky Cafe on Heaton Road, Newcastle, at around lunchtime on Wednesday to find bricks had tumbled onto the street.

(Photo: Tim McGuinness)

Firefighters say it is “lucky” no one was injured as the rain and winds battered the chimney.

But a parked car was damaged after falling masonry had fallen from a height.

Police cordoned off the road for around two hours as firefighters dismantled the rest of the stack to make the area safe.

16:02Kathryn Riddell

More flood defences to be built?

Are there plans for more flood defences in the North East?

£108m is expected to be spent on flood defences in the region over the next six years.

A major scheme has started in the Lustrum Bank area of Stockon-on-Tees.

This will provide protection to the 162 properties in the Lustrum Beck area worst affected by floods in autumn 2012.